By darlene diebold
Staff Writer
Prior to Sept. 11, ferry service throughout Monmouth County did very well. Since then, all but one service in the county boasts booming business.
Though down on its luck lately, Keyport Fast Ferry, which was started after the events of Sept. 11, is expected to come back stronger than ever.
"When we started offering the service, we just received a tremendous response," said Michael Cummins, Keyport Fast Ferry owner. "People had been waiting for the service for years, and they were thrilled when it finally got under way. They needed to get back into the city to work, and the water was the easiest way to get there. People felt comfortable with the service and they just kept coming back."
The maiden voyage from Keyport into lower Manhattan in October brought in 100 riders.
Keyport Fast Ferry’s ridership quickly climbed to 300 commuters traveling into lower Manhattan on a daily basis.
A few months ago, however, Keyport Fast Ferry faced a huge problem. The lease ran out on the two ferries it was using to transport commuters. Initially the owner of Keyport’s ferry service said he was not worried because the business was expecting delivery of two new ferries it was buying.
Because the demand for ferry boats increased since the PATH train service to the financial district was temporarily shut down, the two boats Keyport Fast Ferry were expecting to be delivered were given to other ferry services, Cummins said.
Keyport Fast Ferry was forced to lease fishing boats to replace the two unavailable ferries.
"It has been really hard," Cummins said, "but we are getting our new custom-built ship and will be ready to go."
Once the ferries were gone, Keyport Fast Ferry lost approximately 70 percent of its riders.
"We totally understand why there was a drop in our ridership. We hope that people will come back. We want to provide the best service that we possibly can, and are confident that once the new ship comes in that our riders will come back. People come up to me all the time asking when the service will be back to normal, telling me that they cannot wait. I love Keyport and want to see the service do well. The town has been great to us and they deserve to have a great service," Cummins said.
Keyport Fast Ferry is expecting delivery of a new 220-passenger ferry the week of July 29.
After Sept. 11, former acting Gov. Donald DiFrancesco quickly paved the way for Keyport to establish ferry service into New York City.
Keyport Fast Ferry has a two-year lease with the borough under which it pays $40,000 a year for use of the dock.
Although Keyport Fast Ferry may be experiencing some setbacks its parent company, NY Fast Ferry, based in Highlands, is not.
"Business down here in Monmouth County has been just tremendous," said John Koenig, NY Fast Ferry owner. In Keyport, Koenig runs the waterside operation while Cummins deals with the landside operation.
"The whole market has grown at least 50 percent. When we started in June of 1998 we were doing 700 trips a day with 175,000 passengers a year. Now we have 1,400 trips a day and about 360,000 passengers a year. Since Sept. 11, we have seen an average increase (in ridership) of 10 percent. We may not have received any of the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) money, but we are still getting more and more riders every single day. The market is definitely here," Koenig said.
In February, FEMA gave the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey $11 million to expand the existing ferry service from Hoboken to lure people back to lower Manhattan.
New York Waterway had been covering the service for 11 years and was given the opportunity to bring 60,000 daily commuters back into the city. The company will run Monmouth County’s Belford service when it comes on-line at the end of the year.
"At the time, there was no PATH service, and the Lincoln and Holland tunnels were restricted to car pools from 6-10 a.m. People were afraid that they were not going to be able to get into New York, so money was brought in to make sure that businesses would not leave and so commuters would be able to get to work," said Steve Coleman, Port Authority spokesman. "The money was put in place to expand what was already there. That’s why they (New York Waterway) received the money when other companies didn’t."
Car pooling is no longer in effect for the Lincoln Tunnel.
"Immediately after Sept. 11, New York Waterway chartered every boat that it could find because the PATH service was knocked out. We did that on our own, with no help from anyone. Since then our ridership has grown enormously," said N.Y. Waterway spokesperson Pat Smith.
The company offers services from Hoboken, Jersey City and Weehawkin into New York City.
"In late February, early March, a joint decision was made by New York, New Jersey, and the federal government that riders just had to get into lower Manhattan. There was a fear and the concern that businesses were going to leave (lower Manhattan)," Smith said.
"Nobody wanted businesses to leave the region. In order to get riders back into New York to go to work, a decision was made to enable us to bring the ferry service back to where the PATH service was on Sept. 10," Smith said. "The mission was made to duplicate the service that was already there. We have done that, no matter what anybody says. Since March, we have seen our own customer base grow 16 to 17 percent. The market is there, and we feel that we will continue to grow."
Back in Atlantic Highlands, David Stafford, general manager of Seastreak America, said his company’s service has been growing since 1999.
"We have had tremendous growth," he said. "Since Sept. 11, we just have more and more people coming back to the water so they can get into lower Manhattan. A lot of people tried the ferry for the first time and they have just continued to come back," he said.
Besides Atlantic Highlands, Seastreak also has terminals in Highlands and South Amboy.
"When we began in 1999, our ridership was at 250,000 passengers a year. Last year we had 550,000 riders. Since Sept. 11, we have seen a 15 to 20 percent increase for daily commuters," Stafford said.
Seastreak’s increase has to do with its new South Amboy terminal which opened in February, and the fact that Keyport lost two ferries.
"We started with 20 to 30 riders. Now we have 350 each way every day," Stafford said. "Although Keyport is a totally different market, I think we definitely gained a lot of service from them. I think that we will retain a lot of those riders."
None of the local ferry companies have expressed nervousness about the future launching of the Belford ferry.
"We each have our own niche in the market. People take the ferries because they love the convenience and the speed. But they chose the companies because of the convenience," Koenig said.
"In Highlands, and in Keyport, I don’t think we will really have to worry about losing customers to Belford. It’s all about what is more convenient. They will find their own market. Monmouth County is going to end up being the largest location of private ferry services in the country. For high speed boats, this is the place to be," Koenig added.
But N.Y. Waterway is positive it will find its market and thrive in Belford.
"We have done a lot of marketing research and we are positive that we will be able to attract new riders, either getting them from existing companies or getting brand-new riders," Smith said.